Office of Admission hosts Junior Visit Day for first time since start of pandemic - By Mira Diamond-Berman

Office of Admission hosts
Junior Visit Day for first
time since start of pandemic
By Mira Diamond-Berman
diamondb@grinnell.edu

Grinnell College hosted a Junior Visit Day for prospective
students on Monday, Feb. 21., the first of its kind since
before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most of the students in attendance were high school juniors
and their families, but there were also a few seniors and a
sophomore, according to Rachel Arseneault, senior assistant
director of admission and coordinator of campus visits and
events.

Last year, there was no Junior Visit Day because of COVID-19
protocols. In order to mitigate concerns about the virus, the
College admissions office organized smaller sessions and
enforced indoor masking for the visitors. Typically, Junior
Visit Day consists of only one session of programming for the
students and their families, but this year an additional
session was added to limit the number of people in a group.

“This year, given restrictions around the pandemic, we opted
to do two sessions shorter in length, so we could have more
people take advantage of the program, because as you can
imagine, the programs were capped in attendance,” said
Arseneault.

All visitors were required to wear a mask indoors. If a
visitor came without a mask, then one was given to them. “All
visitors were wearing close fitting surgical masks or higher-
grade masks like KN95 and N95, or KN94 masks that was required
indoors. So, if a family did not come with a surgical mask or
higher-grade mask, we provided them with one,” she said.

McKenna Doherty `22, a student tour guide, said that there
were no hesitation surrounding mask wearing on Junior Visit
Day. “No one in my group pushed back at all [about wearing
masks]. Like I did have questions about how Grinnell was
handling COVID protocol, but for the most part I think it went
really smoothly,” she said.

However, due to COVID-19 protocol the students and their

guests could not go inside the Dining Hall or shadow classes,
which is often an integral part of a college tour. “We weren’t
able to offer any meals on campus,” said Arseneault. “And we
weren’t able to offer class visits, which are two options that
are normally available to students that are visiting for
Junior Visit Day.”

Doherty noted that the lack of access to the Dining Hall can
be difficult for prospective students because it can play a
big role in the college decision process. “That’s a little bit
tricky, because food is a pretty big pull for some people and
also can really sway people’s decisions,” she said.

                   Visitors were required
                   to   wear   masks   of
                   surgical    grade   or
                   higher. Photo by Ariel
                   Richards.

To help combat this issue, the Admissions Office offered an
alternative to the Dining Hall: vouchers valid at multiple
restaurants in downtown Grinnell. Although the prospective
students could not try the food they would be eating daily if
they were accepted and enrolled, they were given the
opportunity to try out the local restaurants.

“Because we weren’t able to allow visitors to go through the

Marketplace Dining Hall for lunch, we provided them with
Grinnell Chamber Bucks to use downtown at local restaurants.
And so every visitor that came for junior visit day received a
coupon to have lunch downtown, and I think that was something
they very much appreciated, given that we couldn’t give them a
glimpse into our you know, our marketplace,” said Arseneault.

In addition to this perk, the Admissions Office organizes its
program for prospective students differently than many other
colleges. During tours, the prospective students are split up
from their families or guests to hopefully cultivate a more
open and comfortable tour.

“We separate our tours. So, parents and families go on a
different tour, than the students, so all the visiting
students go on tours,” said Arseneault. “There’s a little bit
more freedom for the visiting students to ask questions, they
may, you know, hesitate to ask if their parents were on the
same tour with them. And it really opens up the parent’s
ability to ask questions, they feel like maybe their son or
daughter would be embarrassed if they heard.”

This Junior Visit Day consisted of 41 prospective students and
101 total visitors, according to Arseneault. The enthusiasm of
the guests along with the good weather made for successful
Junior Visit Day. “The weather was great,” said Doherty. “So,
people seem really, really excited. The parents I had were
awesome.”

Women’s basketball concludes
season in lackluster game
cancellation
By Mira Diamond-Berman
diamondb@grinnell.edu

On Saturday, Feb. 19, Grinnell’s women’s basketball team
played their last game of the 2021-2022 season against Lake
Forest. It was a close game, with Grinnell losing 49-55 it was
their last chance to make it into the tournament. Earlier in
the season, Grinnell played against Lake Forest for their
first conference tournament, in which they lost by one point:
76-77. For the overall season, Grinnell won nine games and
lost 13 games. The team expected to play against Illinois
College on Sunday, Feb. 20, but the game was canceled.

Sofia Ahooja `22 and Payton Hall `25 attribute the
cancellation of the Illinois College game to their Lake Forest
loss. Even if the team beat Illinois College, they still would
have not made the tournament. It was determined it was not
worth the cost and resources to send the team to an away game
at Illinois College.

“The Illinois game was canceled because since we didn’t win
the Saturday game, there was no way for us to make it into the
tournament. And I believe it was canceled because our athletic
director didn’t want to pay the funds for us to stay a hotel.
And for food for us not to make it into the tournament. So I
think it was a budget issue,” said Hall.

 For some players, the last game with Lake Forest was a
disappointing end to the season. “It kind of sucks to end this
season on a loss. It’s kind of a bummer. But I think we all
did our best and did what we could and there were some plays
that didn’t go the way we wanted. So it wasn’t a bad loss, but

it still sucks,” said Ahooja.

COVID-19 also made the season particularly difficult for the
team. Along with an outbreak on the Grinnell team, other teams
also had to constantly move games due to the pandemic. “It was
stressful because a lot of our games got canceled or move
postponed. But then the teams that were supposed to play also
got Covid. So eventually, like the games just kept getting
pushed back and pushed back,” said Hall.

Despite the stress of having to cancel and postpone games, the
team made the best of it and it brought them closer together.
“We had to reschedule all of it and it got very hectic. So it
was kind of stressful at times. But I think those times also
made it fun. And we kind of shared that experience,” said
Ahooja.

This being Ahooja’s last season on the women’s basketball
team, she hopes that the team continues its close-knit
dynamic. “I hope they keep their family culture for sure. I
think that’s the most important part was friendships and bonds
you have with everyone afterwards. I think that’s the most
important takeaway from this. Because there’s so many alumni
that I’m still very close with, and I hope they continue to
carry that on,” she said.

Hall is already thinking about using this family dynamic for
the next season. Both hard work and a good team dynamic can
hopefully bring them to the tournament next year, she said.

“Next year I’m just excited to get back to work. I think we
have a lot of amazing underclassmen that are soon to be
upperclassmen. But then I also just think our team is really
bonded like through this first year. We have a lot of freshmen
and sophomores that are really close, which shows like on and
off the court like team dynamics really important. I’m excited
just to get back to work and work towards making the
tournament,” said Hall.

Grinnell Police Department to
create Law Enforcement Mental
Health Liaison position
By Mira Diamond-Berman
diamondb@grinnell.edu

The Grinnell Police Department (GPD) intends to create a law
enforcement mental health liaison, a mental health
professional who would partner with law enforcement officers
when responding to calls. Plans for this initiative were laid
out in the Grinnell Police Department 2021 Annual Report.
However, the report claims the initiative has yet to be
implemented due to a lack of funding. According to Sergeant

Ben Smith, the department intends to use local grants or
resources from Poweshiek Country to help fund a partnership
program with Capstone Behavioral Health, a mental health
services provider located on 4th St.

“I think the goal is to have Capstone be the servicing kind of
group since they already provide some mental health services
in Grinnell,” said Smith. “They do individual counseling,
services, substance abuse services.”

Smith has said that COVID-19 has led to a greater demand in
mental health services for adolescents. “I think that a lot of
juveniles, school-aged children, I think that [the number of
mental health crises] has definitely increased due to COVID,”
he said. “Quarantine, these different learning situations, and
now they’re back in the schools and getting back into that
socialization and stuff can be extremely difficult, because
they’re all still developing.”

Smith also said he thinks the demand for mental health
services for adults has increased, but did not provide
statistics about the demand for mental health services for
Grinnell adolescents or adults.

In 2021, the GPD received 53 calls concerning mental health
crises, but it is often not equipped to deal with these calls.
Although there is a Mobile Crisis Team (MCT) that can help
with these calls, its response is often too late.

“The response times for the MCT averages 90 minutes or so,
which in most cases the incident is over and handled. It is
being recognized throughout the country, as well as the Law
Enforcement community, that police officers are not trained
sufficiently, or equipped properly, to deal with these
issues,” wrote GPD Chief Michael McClelland in the Annual
Report.

Currently, the only other resource for mental health crises
besides the Mobile Crisis Service is the emergency room.

In the proposed plan, the mental health liaison would always
be on call and would immediately arrive at the scene and then
provide further resources once the situation deescalates. The
professional would have the authority to create a long-term
solution by connecting the person with mental health
resources.

“We have really advocated for them to be a 24-hour service and
embed with our officers,” said Smith. “The goal for this would
be for there to be a social worker, or, you know,
psychological professional that could manage follow-ups for
these people.”

Smith said he thinks the initiative would be a huge benefit to
the mental health of the Grinnell community, but that the
start of this program is dependent on funding. Smith did not
say whether funding could be redirected from current programs
within the GPD.

Students find mental health
resources   in   unexpected
places
Mira Diamond-Berman
diamondb@grinnell.edu

Grinnell College, like any other college, is not stress-free.
Juggling schoolwork can be difficult and adding clubs, work

and sports can exacerbate the pressure. The College offers
resources for students struggling with mental health such as
Student Health and Wellness (SHAW) counselors and has recently
started school-wide mental health days called “Working
Differently Days.”

In an effort to create a healthier environment, many Grinnell
students have also taken mental wellness into their own hands.

Technically, all of the school’s health resources are
concentrated through SHAW. Along with counselors, SHAW also
has a psychiatrist available to students. Unfortunately, SHAW
counselors are not frequently accessible due to a shortage of
counselors and there is typically a wait time of two weeks to
make an appointment, according to Athena Frasca `23, a
Community Advisor (CA) and Student Athlete Mentor (SAM) for
the track and field team.

Grinnell also has a student-run chapter of the National
Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), which is currently overseen
by co-vice presidents Nina Takashima `24 and Dorothy Anna
Russell `24. The aim of the club is to raise awareness of
mental health issues and provide support for students who are
struggling with their mental health.

“We try to spread mental awareness about mental health issues
and not just like expanding awareness but just putting it out
there that it’s okay to be mentally unstable,” said Takashima.
“Not even if people aren’t diagnosed with mental illness, or
whatever, there are days when you might not feel as great, or
you know, there’s ups and downs. … And there are ways to move
forward with that.”

NAMI plans weekly activities during the semester to help
students relax and relieve stress. “We’ve done yoga to kind of
destress, like meditation, even some arts and crafts things.
Like tonight, we’re going to make some Valentine’s Day cards,”
said Takashima.

In addition to clubs that focus on mental health, there are
also SAMs and CAs, who are trained in the mental health
resources offered on campus.

“SAMs are trained in campus resources and crisis management
and also. just like lending a helping hand or like shoulder to
lean on for their teammates,” said Frasca.

SAMs are meant to be a support that can guide students to the
available resources while CAs help students personally. The
role of a SAM is often confused with the responsibilities of a
CA. “We’re not really supposed to be like therapists or
counselors. And we don’t play the role like CAs are often
compared to SAMs in that like, we kind of have the same
training, but CAs are meant to kind of like sit and talk
more,” said Frasca.

Through Frasca’s work as a CA, she has noticed that a major
barrier for students is having to call SHAW or go into the
SHAW center to ask to meet with a counselor. “I wish you
didn’t have to call to make an appointment with the
counselors. I’m also a CA and that’s something that stops a
lot of people in my experience from like doing it themselves,”
she said. “It’d be really nice to be able to sign up online.”

The need for SHAW counselors may be exacerbated by the amount
of academic stress at Grinnell along with the isolated area in
which Grinnell resides. “We have a lot more work than many of
our peer institutions, from what I understand. And we’re in
the middle of nowhere, there is less social stuff,” said
Frasca.

Many Grinnellians also feel pressure to do well in school and
extracurricular activities, which adds to the stress. “I feel
like a lot of the students at Grinnell maybe like have like
internalized stress. Maybe it’s their pressure being
themselves to do well in school to do well in sports,” said
Takashima. “I think it’s more like an internal like personal

thing. Rather than like the community putting stress on
people.”

Although mental illness continues to be stigmatized, Frasca
notes that Grinnell does try to maintain an open and attentive
mental health culture. “I think Grinnell is really unique in
that we are very open about talking about it [mental health].
Of course, though, there is plenty of room to grow.”

If you or a friend is struggling, you can reach out to trained
student advocates using their live chat feature or call the
Crisis Intervention line at any time (1-800-270-1620).

Dining Hall reopens after two
weeks of grab-and-go meals
By Mira Diamond-Berman
diamondb@grinnell.edu

The 2022 spring semester began at Grinnell College with nearly
two weeks of exclusively to-go meals from the Marketplace
Dining Hall, leaving many to search for spaces on campus to
eat. Feb. 3 marked the first day where tables in the dining
hall were open for eat-in seating.

Ben Newhouse, associate vice president for student affairs and
dean of students, cites the low COVID positivity rate after
the initial onboarding testing (a rate of 3.6 percent) as the
reason to resume eat-in dining.

Although the closing of Dining Hall tables was meant to
prevent the spread of the omicron variant of the virus, some
students found that this may have created more opportunities
for COVID to spread. Instead of eating in the Dining Hall,
students crowded into the Spencer Grill or residence hall
lounges around campus.

“It’s just congested. You know, we’re talking about the
sickness, and yet we’re allowing ourselves to be bunched up in
smaller rooms instead of wider spaced in a bigger room,” said
E.J. Schwartz `23.

Some students found that the to-go policy was
counterproductive because of the lack of enforcement of eating
unmasked around campus. “When there are those really crowded
moments, it makes the whole rule of not eating in D-Hall seem
kind of ridiculous. If there’s still going to be the same
concentration of people for sure,” said Maia Battis-Wyatt `23
before eat-in dining resumed.

Beyond eating unmasked, students have noticed the lack of
mask-wearing in other places around campus, particularly in
residence halls. “COVID is being spread not just through,
like, food. I see people in residence halls without masks and
like socializing. So, I don’t think it [the Dining Hall] would
affect it,” said Sophie Mero `22.

Along with what these students feel is the contradictory
nature of the to-go Covid policy, the lines and wait times
have proven to be inconveniently long.

“On a few days, I have a class that gets out at noon and a
class that starts at one,” said Battis-Wyatt. “When there’s
these ridiculous lines that there have been sometimes it’s
almost impossible for me to actually go back to my dorm and
eat.”

Erin Jarvis `25 also had trouble eating lunch with the long
lines. “Oh, they’ve [the lines] been terrible. I have 11 to 12
class and a 1 to 2 class. So trying to get lunch in that one
hour in between has been awful,” she said.

When the lines were at their worst, some students skipped out
on the to-go box altogether. “I came here once on the day that
it like looped all the way around like back to the grill. And
I decided not to wait in the line,” said Alyson Won `25.

In addition, to the stress of the long lines for both students
and the dining hall staff, the to-go policy also put an extra
strain on the custodial staff, as they became responsible for
also cleaning the various places students were eating on
campus.

Although the reopening of eat-in dining may ease the pressure
for the FM staff, the Dining Hall staff had to readjust its
operations. Currently, the Marketplace has shifted to using
disposable dishes and silverware to reduce this initial
burden. Once the staff can manage the change and increase in
dishware there will be a return to reusable dishes and

silverware, according to Newhouse.

“Part of the transition is reallocating, you know, resources
to support the eat-in,” said Newhouse. “In terms of just the
maintenance of a large dining space, and, you know, the plate
usage of the dish usage that goes up with, with, eat-in
experience, that’s the stuff that’s going to have to be
adjusted in order to meet those needs and address those
dynamics.”

Some students also worry about how the reopening of eat-in
dining will affect the staffing. “I feel like it’s going to be
probably more low staffed,” said Wheaton Kearney `24. “It’s
going to be better than taking stuff out of the hall at
least.”

Breaking: In-person dining to
resume on February 3
By Mira Diamond-Berman
diamondb@grinnell.edu

On Feb. 3 at 7 a.m., the Grinnell College dining hall will
reopen for in-person dining. Disposable dishware and
silverware will be used to facilitate the beginning of this
transition, Dean of Students Ben Newhouse wrote in an all-
campus email. To-go boxes will still be available for students
as well.

The low COVID-19 positivity rates have made this transition to
in-person dining possible, Newhouse said. Despite the highly
contagious nature of the Omicron variant, the College has
determined that the social health of the student body
outweighs the risks of opening the dining hall.

“We just felt like, the social benefits definitely outweigh
some of the risks, knowing that students can make their own
individual choices along the way about what they’re
comfortable with,” said Newhouse.

Along with the community benefits of an eat-in dining hall
along, the College noticed the difficulty students have found
with finding locations. “Also recognizing that students were
making their absolute best efforts to find alternative
locations to gather and eat, and it still was creating a space
crunch. So, it just made logical sense,” said Newhouse.

If the isolation numbers and positivity rates rise, then the
College may have to return to the dining to-go system,
Newhouse said. However, the College recognizes that it is
extremely difficult to prevent breakthrough Covid cases from
the Omicron variant even with extremely cautious public health
measures.

“Positivity rates may require us to shift. And at the same
time, you know, we recognize that even, you know, a person
who’s navigating our spaces, you know, utilizing the highest
public health precautions could still end up being a
breakthrough case,” he said.

The College said that they are thrilled to resume in-person
dining and hopes that the students are as well. “The students
are definitely excited. And we’ve been looking forward to this
day as well for our students, you know, ever since we came
back together,” said Newhouse.

Sustainability                       initiatives

increase on campus
By Mira Diamond-Berman
diamondb@grinnell.edu

On Thursday, Nov. 11, the “Sustainability on Campus and
Beyond” panel discussed the College’s current action on
climate change. Two of the College’s major initiatives were
discussed at the meeting: the addition of more sub-meters and
expanding composting to the Spencer Grill. Environmental and
Safety Coordinator Chris Bair and Hannah Malicky `22, Student
Government Association (SGA) environmental sustainability
chair, are working to ensure that the College prioritizes
environmental sustainability.

An important step for sustainability is obtaining a broad
sense of how energy is consumed so that the College can figure
out the steps to reduce its energy use. Currently, the college
only has one SEM for all of campus, a device that measures the
amount of energy used.

“The downside is right now we have no idea of what Noyce
consumes, relative to the Joe [JRC], relative to the Bear,”
said Bair. “We can’t have dorm competitions, you know,
students would love to have energy competitions [to see] who
can save more in the light.”

The College plans to add additional sub-meters, so that they
can gather data about energy use relative to different
buildings.

“Next semester, we’ll have sub-meters put in … all the dorms
and the seven largest buildings,” said Bair.

This energy data will be readily available to students on an
open-source energy dashboard software that was created by
Steve Huss-Lederman, a retired Beloit College professor.
Students will have the opportunity to evaluate their energy

use through this database.

 I have very strong faith that students can take on
 initiatives, especially at Grinnell College. – Hannah
 Malicky, SGA Environmental Sustainability Chair

“That will also provide students an ability to do data
analysis and things like that, which is really cool. And
hopefully get students more engaged with that side of
environmentalism,” said Malicky, who is an independent major
in environmental justice with a concentration in peace and
conflict studies.

Another sustainability project of the College is extending the
composting program. “We’re trying to do everything compostable
that we can,” said Malicky.

All the food waste generated from the Dining Hall is
composted, but the College, in partnership with the Student
Environmental Committee (SEC), has added new compost bins to
the Spencer Grill. Minimizing single-use plastics has also
been a priority.

“Over COVID, the conversation of single use plastic really
sparked,” said Malicky. “SEC has been working on is reducing
the amount of single use plastic within the grill. The cookies
used to be wrapped in that plastic wrap, and now, they give
them out in compostable kind of things.”

On Monday, Nov. 15 compost bins were added to Spencer Grill as
an addition to the current compost program. Although this is a
major step in providing students with an environmentally
friendly option to dispose of their food waste and compostable
materials, the bins are only effective if they are not
contaminated with trash or recycling. If there is any
contamination, the entire bin has to be thrown away.

“I would say four or five years ago … there were a lot of

things that we could talk about [regarding sustainability] but
they weren’t necessarily really indicative of [a] priority,”
Bair said. “But sustainability is definitely a priority now.
The Board of Trustees asks for the annual sustainability
update and shows that they’re really interested and want to
make sure we are making progress.”

Even though the College is making progress in its
environmental initiatives, it is still mostly student led.

“There is a need, an aggressive need, for more institutional
memory … for environmentalism because currently it’s student-
run, but then we leave in four years,” said Malicky. “We need
that institutional support.”

Despite the lack of sufficient staffing dedicated to the
environmental sustainability of the College, Malicky has hope
in the students. “I have very strong faith that students can
take on initiatives, especially at Grinnell College,” she
said.

After Malicky graduates at the end of the semester, she plans
to continue the initiatives she started as a student.

 “I’m going to be writing a 10-year plan for my position that
is loose. So, students can … [see the] things that I have
started, and that other people have started that should be
maintained throughout these 10 years,” she said.

Malicky has a passion project of her own that she hopes will
start next semester. She is working on a bottomless mug
campaign in which students will pay upfront for a mug in the
Spencer grill and then receive free coffee for the rest of the
semester.

“You buy a tumbler for theoretically, like $100 at the
beginning of the semester. And then for the entire year, if
you bring that coffee mug, you get free coffee,” she said.
“I’m hoping to implement that as a spring pilot project.

There’s a lot of kinks that we’re working on right now. But
that’s hopefully going to reduce the amount of cups that are
given out.”

Tommy Lee builds                           his        own
dynamic world
By Mira Diamond-Berman
diamondb@grinnell.edu

Unlike in a traditional gallery, Tommy Lee `22 will be
updating his artwork displayed in “Worldbuilding” over the
course of the exhibition’s time in Smith Gallery. Lee opened
his art exhibit in the Smith Gallery over the weekend of Nov.
13 and it will run until the first week of December. His

artwork has recently developed, so some of the pieces,
specifically his sculptures, were not ready in time for the
exhibit’s opening.

“My work decided to evolve so fast, so much over the past
month or two. It’s like I can’t keep up,” said Lee.

The exhibit features the sculpture and photography pieces   Lee
has created over the past two-and-a-half years. He will     add
his newest pieces to the exhibit once they are finished.    The
sculptures that will be showcased towards the end of        the
exhibit still need to be fired and glazed.

This unconventional method of updating his artwork during the
exhibition instead of maintaining the same work has changed
the typical order of an art exhibit. The traditional opening
party will be replaced with a closing party, which Lee plans
to hold during the week before finals, to celebrate the
completion and showing of his artwork.

Recently, Lee has narrowed his artistic focus. “This semester
has been about sculptures,” he said. As he continued to work
on sculptures and refined his technique, it has taken him more
time to perfect them.

“Each sculpture can take from a day to a week. I used to make
things in one session, three to four hours, but now I’m taking
a little more time to make each one,” said Lee.

Many of Lee’s sculptures maintain the same base structure.
When he creates his subsequent sculptures, he continues the
same shapes and techniques.

Most of Tommy Lee’s sculptures are painted in bright colors
because Lee thinks that they best represent life. Photo by
Ariel Richards.

“I find a characteristic of what I like in that piece then I
kind of carry that one onto the next one, so I don’t really
know what kind of comes next. I grab onto an idea or technique
that I find interesting,” he said.

Most of his sculptures are painted in bright colors because
Lee thinks that they best represent life. He decided the
sculpture’s color based on what he thinks will best portray
its shape. “It’s nice to have lively colors because I think
trying to present life in black and white or just a monotone
scheme — that doesn’t reflect life,” he said. “I used to match
a color based on what the shape looked like.”

In addition to making sculptures, Lee also draws and does
photography, and these three forms of artwork have all evolved

upon each other. “I think drawing helped me find my style,
photography helped me see it in a realistic way. I see how it
[sculpting] applies in a real-life situation by using real-
world materials and things I photographed in real life,” he
said.

Now that he has developed his drawing and sculpting skills,
they both depend on each other. “I used to just rely on my
intuition,” said Lee. “But now that I’ve made a lot of
intuitive pieces, I want to kind of get it under my control,
so sometimes I draw my pieces. Sometimes I don’t. But now I
draw the way I sculpt, and I sculpt the way I draw.”

Lee’s inspiration for his artwork comes from his idea of
constructing a world. His individual photos and sculptures are
little creations in his large world of art.

“They are building a world, I think. Whether I’m working in
photography or sculpture or drawing I’m using a lot of
abstraction. And by using abstraction I make things that are
little images, but also really familiar. It’s like a middle
line behind familiarity and unfamiliarity,” said Lee.

Lee plans to expand his desire to turn his artwork into its
own world by using virtual reality in future work. By using
virtual reality, Lee will be able to construct his own online
art world. “I want to incorporate new technology like VR,” he
said. “I’ve been making little objects of people and little
characters, but then with VR I can create an environment where
they come from. So, the whole world that I create could look
like these [sculptures].”

Yarnbombs drop across campus
By Mira Diamond-Berman
diamondb@grinnell.edu

Six students from the 2020 tutorial “The Art of Craft” joined
their crocheting creations to yarnbomb three lampposts and a
tree between Noyce Science Center and the Humanities and
Social Studies Center.

Yarnbombing is a display of fiber art that brightens up a
public space by covering an object with a crochet or
knit artifact. Yarnbombing can be used as a form of protest or
to bring awareness to the surrounding environment.

“Yarnbombing is a form of craftivism, which is frequently
defined as a form of gentle protest as it takes something that
is traditionally domestic or traditionally feminine and turns
it into a subversive means,” said Phil Tyne `24 who was
in “The Art of Craft” last year. “[It’s] not always protesting
something but generally [brings] awareness to certain things
or just changing the layout of an environment so that people
pay attention.”

The students from the tutorial hoped that their crocheted
squares would bring more color and character to the Grinnell
campus.

“Our hope is more that it makes people happy because it’s
quirky and cute to have little sweaters on the lamppost and
just in general make people feel that they’re in a location
that is tended to and cared for rather than just a
manufactured lawn,” said Tyne.

The yarnbomb patterns were created during the tutorial last
year and now that all the students are finally back together
on campus they decided to hang up their creations.

The yarnbombs were created during the 2020 “Art of Craft”
tutorial. Photo by Alex Fontana.

“Dr. Snook, who was our professor, she bought this yarn and
during the tutorial she sent it out to us. And we crocheted
the squares during F1 when we had our tutorial.” said Tyne

Jax Seiler `22, who started knitting as a kid and is the
President of the Fiber Arts Club on campus, was not involved
with this yarnbombing event but is well aware of the purposes
of yarnbombing.

“I’ve seen some as activism, which is super cool. I’ve seen
the version — they’re like on a chain linked fence doing
essentially a cross stitch to spell things out,” said Seiler.

Seiler has also seen yarn bombing used as an alternative to
graffiti.

“[It] brighten[s] things up,” said Seiler. “[It] brings color
in a fun way that is a little easier to remove than
traditional graffiti”

This yarnbombing wasn’t as graffiti-like and independent as
the students of “The Art of Craft” wanted. Rather than being
surprising and unsolicited like other forms of street art, the
students had to confer with Facilities Management (FM) before
putting up their art.

“[The] whole thing of like getting permission from FM and a
lot of stuff like that, which in a way ruins the spirit of
yarnbombing because a lot of yarnbombing is anti-capitalist …
anti-authority. But it sort of takes away the meaning of
putting something up spontaneously if you have to get approval
from someone, so that they don’t cut it down immediately,”
said Tyne.

They don’t have plans to remove their yarnbombing from the
tree and lampposts any time soon, but the removal may not be
up to them.

“We don’t have rain forecasts in the future so I don’t think
it should get wet or anything. It’s really up to if FM decides
to cut it down,” said Tyne. “Hopefully they don’t because if
they do I would want some of that back.”

College designates alternate
eating spaces in response to
lack of masking in Spencer
Grill
By Mira Diamond-Berman
diamondb@grinnell.edu

Although Grinnell College’s official policy is that masks can
only be removed while eating in the Dining Hall, students
often eat maskless in the Spencer Grill and at other tables in
the Joe Rosenfield Center (JRC) without repercussion, a
problem for which no perfect solution has yet been found.

To discourage students from eating in the Spencer Grill and

other JRC communal spaces, the College has designated certain
rooms as “lunch spaces” in which students can eat unmasked
indoors. These rooms in the JRC are 202, 203, 225 and 226.
Students are already using these lunch spaces to eat lunch
instead of in the Dining Hall.

“I think the only place I’ve seen someone actually get
reprimanded for not wearing a mask was in the HSSC,” said
Rachel Werner `25. “Other than that, I’ve never seen anybody,
regardless of if they’re eating or not, get in trouble for
masks.”

Werner thinks the rationale behind the policy that students
can eat in the Dining Hall but not the Spencer Grill is
illogical.

“I think maybe one place that should be allowing people to eat
in would be Spencer Grill as well, just because that is a food
place. Other places, I understand to try to help stop the
spread,” said Werner.

But the College maintains that food bought in the Spencer
Grill is supposed to be eaten elsewhere.

“In the Grill, the food is grab-and-go and should be taken
outside, back to your residence hall room, or to another
approved dining area in the JRC. Elsewhere on campus, anyone
can take their masks off momentarily to take a sip or a bite
of food,” wrote Heather Cox, director of emergency management
and risk mitigation in an email to the S&B.

No employee at the Grill is specifically assigned to implement
mask requirements, and Cox wrote that the measures are to be
upheld and enforced by the community at large.

“All campus community members, including students, are
empowered to remind others to wear their masks indoors. No
single person or department is designated to enforce the
policies but rather it is a collective effort as part of

living and learning in community,” Cox wrote.

Roxanna Longobardi `25, a student worker in the Spencer Grill,
noted that students frequently eat maskless without
repercussion.

Longobardi said there had been no explicit instruction to
remind students that they can’t eat in the Spencer Grill. “I
just don’t say anything because I haven’t been told to say
anything, so it’s not part of my job, I guess,” she said.

As the weather gets colder, students will be unable to eat
outside, and Longobardi thinks even more students will start
eating unmasked inside.

“I like it. I just hang out here with my friends before
classes because right after lunch we have classes. It’s so
much easier,” said Deborah Afeni `25.

The College is still looking for more solutions to provide
students with safe places to eat when students don’t have the
choice to eat outside.

“The Activity Level Group and the Operations Team continue to
assess public health guidance as it relates to indoor dining,
and are working to identify locations and activities where
students can enjoy eating together. More information will be
coming after fall break in preparation for cooler weather,”
wrote Cox.

Harris parties: coming back
or a remnant of Grinnell’s
past?
By Mira Diamond-Berman
diamondb@grinnell.edu

Before COVID-19 dictated the safety of indoor events, College-
sponsored Harris parties often became the major all-campus
event of a given weekend. The COVID-19 pandemic has made
Harris parties seem to no longer be an option, at least for
now, and in the meantime, there is still the opportunity for
outdoor all-campus activities. Still, the disappearance of the
parties has changed the College’s weekend culture and are
missed by many third- and fourth-year students.

Harris parties would start every Saturday night at 10:30 p.m.

in the Harris Center; the   early birds could get pizza while it
lasted and later arrivals   could show up until closing time at
1 a.m. Anna Brew `22, who   was originally in the class of 2021
but took a year off, said   she enjoyed Harris parties her first
three years.

“It’s just like a really fun way to like unwind on a weekend.
I know people have mentioned that they feel like there is not
a lot to do here and I feel like that can fill that up,” she
said.

Student at a Harris party on Halloween in 2014. Photograph by
Jun Taek Lee.

Each party had a theme that was chosen and hosted by a student
group, often based around a kind of music, style of dress or
costume, or time period.

“I thought Fetish Harris was really fun to just to see what
everyone dressed up as … there was lots of school girls, some
like librarians, there’s some dads, like the guys used to

dress up in floral shirts and be like Hawaiian dads,” Brew
said.

On Sept. 18, the Student Government Association (SGA) hosted a
glow-in-the-dark party on Mac Field to provide an on-campus
party option for students.

“I wanted to make sure the glow in the dark party happened on
Mac Field because initially, most parties were off campus and
the whole thing with the off-campus situation was, like, the
Grinnell police were being a little more out there and then a
bunch of students have been caught,” said Aditya Nair `23, SGA
all-campus events chair. “This poses a liability risk and a
safety risk for these students and because of that partying on
campus would be a lot more safe than partying off campus.”

Nair prioritized having an outdoor Harris, but said it was
difficult to organize due to the lack of All-Campus Events
Student Safety (ACESS) staff, student workers who have
historically overseen Harris and Gardner parties and acted as
advocates and liaisons for students in interactions with
Campus Safety or healthcare workers. SGA is waiting to run
another outdoor party until ACESS are available for the event.

“They [ACESS] already have extensive training and then they
are there to make sure things are safe, people aren’t
consuming substances, etc. But then since they aren’t
organized at the moment, since it’s something the
administration does and not students themselves, right now we
don’t have these volunteers or these people,” said Nair. Once
SGA and the administration reestablish ACESS, he said these
outdoor parties will be much easier to organize.

There is also hope that coming Oct. 1, the administration will
change the current COVID-19 protocols regarding indoor events.

Currently, groups of students have been approaching Nair with
ideas for all-campus events in attempt to bring back campus
culture.

“They are booking slots for certain events in the coming weeks
so I can organize the logistics behind these events whether
it’s lights, sounds, stage set up, etc., for them,” said Nair.
“A student group recently had a pool party sort of thing on
Mac Field.”

Despite the efforts by SGA and other student groups to
organize weekend activities, Nair said that it is still
difficult to cultivate a campus culture and bring back the
traditions since half of the school lacks a pre-pandemic
Grinnell experience.

“At this moment it hard to define campus culture because we
have two whole class years that have not experienced Grinnell
traditions,” he said.

The lack of Harris parties also limits students’ opportunities
to meet new people.

“I think there was a lot more mingling of humans in general,”
said Brew. “It was fun it was a way to hangout and get some
dancing and get the wiggles out.”

Department of Residence Life
plans dorm renovations to
help students beat the heat
By Mira Diamond-Berman
diamondb@grinnell.edu

While the first few weeks of the school year are always the
hottest, the heatwaves at the beginning of the semester became
severe enough that the College took measures to help students
cope with the heat. These quick fixes are only the College’s
immediate plans to combat the heat as the College’s larger
plan is to renovate all the dorms by 2030 to include air
conditioning.

Zoe Mahler `23, who lives on the third floor of Read Hall, had

a difficult time dealing with the extreme heat at the
beginning of the semester in which a heat advisory for
Poweshiek County warned that the heat index could be as high
as 100 to 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Mahler’s concern was not
only for their own well-being but also for their emotional
support dog, Kim. Mahler’s four-year-old rescue dog overheats
easily, and knowing that brutal heat awaited him, he would
refuse to walk up the stairs to the dorm room.

“There was not a point he wasn’t panting,” said Mahler. “He
couldn’t sleep very well, just kind of unhappy, and he did
not, he would not, want to go up the stairs when we walked
back in. He would refuse to walk back up the stairs … so I had
to carry him up a lot.”

For Mahler and their dog, the dorm room was about 4 to 5
degrees hotter than outside, and fans weren’t enough. They
constantly had to worry about where and when they could take
their dog out of the room to let him cool off.

“It’s making being here very difficult,” they said. “A lot
harder than it should be and making me more concerned about my
dog when he is supposed to be helping me.”

Student disability resources eventually did reach out to
students with emotional support animals in unconditioned dorms
and provided them with crates so that their animals could stay
in the air-conditioned lounges throughout the day.

“We wanted to make sure that those folks have a place to go
and so we have opened up the lounges to say you can crate your
animals, emotional support animals, and take them to the
lounge for five to 10 minutes a day,” said Dennis Perkins,
department head of residence life.

This provided a quick solution for the distressed animals but
didn’t reach the core issue – the simple lack of air
conditioning in most of the dorm rooms.

“I would love if they actually put central air conditioning,”
Mahler said. “That’s the solution and also just it’s literally
too hot for anyone, including myself, it was awful. It’s not
just about my dog. It was like I can’t sleep at night because
I’m sweating so much. I think the other thing is it’s never
going to get better. It’s never going to get cooler [in terms
of global warming] and only going to get worse.”

East Campus dorms are the only fully air-conditioned campus
housing. Out of 19 residence halls, only five have central air
conditioning. Nameera Muhammad Dawood `23, the former SGA
administrative coordinator, said she noticed that some
students in those unairconditioned residence halls were having
trouble with the extreme heat. She sent out a survey to gauge
how students were dealing with the heat and who needed a fan.

“The biggest thing I was alarmed by is people reporting that
they can’t sleep in their rooms,” said Muhammad Dawood.

In an attempt to combat the heat, SGA and Residence Life
combined forces to provide fans for students that needed one
and couldn’t afford it. However, the budget ended up $500
short of accommodating everyone that requested one.

Residence life also announced that students were allowed to
sleep in the air-conditioned HSSC and JRC as a short-term
solution. Cots were made available for students to sleep on
inside the buildings, but some students were removed after
being told they could not sleep there.

“We’ve been working with Campus Safety to make sure, and I
know there was some glitches here and there. I think some
students were asked to leave from the HSSC one morning,” said
Perkins.

The problem was also brought up about how students would
maintain social distancing while sleeping in the HSSC or JRC.

“Are people supposed to sleep in their masks?” Muhammad Dawood

questioned. “What is the social distancing? Are there any
rules about how this is supposed to work?”

There has yet to be a permanent fix for the extreme heat in
the dorm rooms, and as the temperatures lower, the issue will
subside until they rise again. The college is looking into
future plans for all dorms to be renovated by 2030.

“Norris and Loose will be the first to [be renovated] starting
next summer,” said Perkins. “So, Norris will be offline from
May of `22 until January of `23. So, they do it pretty quickly
and then Loose is going to go next, and then there is Main.”

The renovation plans, however, do not include air conditioning
for all the dorms since air conditioning is used minimally
during the year due to the Iowa climate.

“We are probably not going to do air in all of them because
again, it’s the Midwest. You know you have a couple [of] weeks
where it is super-hot and then it will cool off, but the
accommodations will be much better,” according to Perkins.

While students wait for the dorms to be fully renovated, the
college is planning a quick dorm improvement for South Campus
in which screens will be added to the windows. This will allow
for students to open their windows and cool down the room
without having to worry about creatures flying in.

“South Campus … [has] no screens in the windows so they
[students] don’t want to open them because things like bats
fly in. So we’re actually going to get those outfitted with
screens right now. That way they can have the window open,
have that cool breeze come through when it’s cool at night,”
said Perkins.